The state Democratic Party has withdrawn its Oct. 1 request for a Federal Election Commission opinion on the legality of using funds raised for federal congressional campaigns to pay for mass mailings promoting re-election of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

The withdrawal avoids the possibility of receiving a legal thumbs-down from the FEC on the mass mailing that the Democrats decided to move forward with, anyway, about a week after submitting the Oct. request.

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The Democrat's attorney informed the FEC in an email, shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday, that it was dropping its request for the federal agency's advice. The email was sent on the eve of the federal election agency's scheduled consideration of the matter at a Thursday meeting.

Also Thursday, the matter was argued by Democratic and Republican lawyers in Hartford Superior Court, where a judge held off on a decision until he can review arguments concerning the GOP's request for an injunction to stop Democrats from using the federal campaigns to help Malloy.

The state Democratic Party's lawyer wrote to the FEC Oct. 1 to ask whether the federal commission would concur with the party's contention that it could legally spend the federal campaign funds to help Malloy. Then, about a week ago, the Democrats decided to go forward with a massive pro-Malloy mailing without waiting for the FEC's advice.

Republicans joined the State Election Enforcement Commission and the good-government advocacy group Common Cause in blasting Democrats for their pro-Malloy use of the party's "federal account," which receives heavy contributions from state contractors who are banned from contributing to state political campaigns.

Anticipating that the FEC would be considering the legality of the Democrats' move, the SEEC sent a 10-page letter to the federal commission earlier this month arguing that it should call the move illegal because it would "cynically circumvent" the state clean-election law that bans the contractors from giving money to candidates for state office.

Now that Democrats have told the FEC that they don't want an answer, state Republican Party Chairman Jerry Labriola Jr. said Thursday: "Of course Connecticut Democrats have withdrawn their request from the FEC. They've already sent the mailers, they've already violated the law -- the last thing they want now is for the FEC to confirm that they've violated the law."

"The fact is that Connecticut Democrats and Dan Malloy are engaging in an illegal pay-to-play scheme to raise money from state contractors and use it to fund the governor's campaign," Labriola said in an email.

Democratic Party Executive Director Jonathan Harris said: "This is simple: Jerry Labriola is lying about the facts, because he's trying to draw attention away from Tom Foley's abysmal record of exploiting the middle class, walking away with millions of dollars, and paying almost no taxes. ... The GOP should focus on developing an agenda that doesn't turn back the clock on everything from women's rights, to marriage equality, to support for the middle class."

Democrats have argued that the funds in the party's "federal account" are supposed to be used for any efforts by the party to help candidates for Congress. They have pointed at small lettering on the mailing – which is dominated by pro-Malloy campaign messages – that says when polls are open on Election Day and gives a number to call if a voter wants a ride to the polls.

Because the small get-out-the-vote lettering could help congressional candidates, Democrats have argued that they are "forced" legally to pay for the Malloy mailing with the money from the "federal account," which has collected more than $4 million this year.

Critics have scoffed, calling that a legal dodge to tap into the federal account and undermine the clean-election law that Democrats formerly championed.

In Hartford Superior Court Thursday, Democrats argued at a hearing on a motion to dismiss the Republicans' request last week for an emergency injunction to stop them from using the federal campaign funds to pay for the mailers.

David Golub, representing the Connecticut Democratic party, said federal law requires any mailers including "get out the vote activity" to be paid for by a federal account if any federal candidate is running for office. "There's no basis for a claim here," he said.

But Proloy Das, the attorney who argued the case for the Republicans, said: "We have a right to ensure that the election isn't bought."

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"The election is less than two weeks away – we can't get another remedy," Das said. Otherwise, he said, Democrats could "simply break the election law and treat the fine after as a cost of doing business."

Judge Antonio Robaina did not issue a ruling Thursday. He commented that the Democrats' argument, at its core, "means that candidates for office can choose "to exempt themselves or include themselves from certain regulations" by adding "two very seemingly innocuous phrases" – as Democrats did on the Malloy mailers.

"It isn't a get-out-the-vote activity solely because it has a brief mention to get out the vote," Das said.